Goodfriend Self Storage, on a 1.84-acre parcel on Goodfriend Drive, a commercial and industrial-zoned area, was sold to unidentified investors in October for a whopping $8,400,000.

The new owners have wasted no time in increasing rental fees. One tenant’s space jumped from $225 a month to $289 on January 1, a 28-percent hike from the 2013 price.

Meanwhile, Twin Forks Moving and Storage closed Dec. 31 on its purchase of a huge building on Industrial Road in Wainscott that was formerly the home of East Hampton Studios, a film production soundstage. According to a spokesperson for Twin Forks, the space will be used for containerized storage, not self-storage.

Seems we’re part of a larger national trend. Last year the self-storage industry in the United States generated more than $24 billion according to the Self Storage Association. “The industry has been the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the last 40 years and has been considered by Wall Street analysts to be 'recession resistant.'”

So, if you want to avoid making storage people richer, do as Barbra Streisand did, according to her book, “My Passion for Design.” She took her vintage clothes out of storage and built a “shop” for them in her house, along with other “shops” on a make-believe street.

Or else, buy your own self-storage facility.

About the Author

Debra Scott is a recovering real estate agent, having plied the trade at Whitbread Nolan in Manhattan, Vicki Bagley Realty in Washington, D.C., and Braverman Newbold Brennan before it was purchased by Sotheby’s International Realty.